Mophead having detachable mop and jaw unit



Dec. 27, 1949 J. w. MARTIN 2,492,232

MOP HEAD HAVING DETACHABLE MOP AND JAW UNIT Filed Aug. 23, .1946

lllllllllllllllllllllll I ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOPHEAD HAVING DETAGHABLE MOP AND JAW UNIT John W. Martin, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application August 23, 1946, Serial No. 692,512

7 Claims.- (Cl. 15-229) This invention relates to mops and has particular reference to improvements in the wiper element and in the mop stick.

One object of the invention is to provide a mop having improved means whereby the wiper element is removable as a unit with one of the jaws or holding parts of the mop head, such unit being adapted to be immersed in a pail of water for washing a mop element.

I have observed that janitors and porters do not properly wash mops at frequent intervals because they find it too troublesome or too much of a bother to detach the relatively large wiper elements employed. In consequence, the cleaning operations performed are insuflicient and inadequate and generally consume a great deal more time than would otherwise be necessary. I have perceived that if a mop is so constructed that the wiper element thereof could be removed without any laborious operation, and replaced without the necessity of slowly re-entering the wiper element into the mop head, the natural tendency would be to remove this wiper element to rinse .it with a reasonable degree of thoroughness. about a yard in-length, considerable time and trouble would thus be saved.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide improved means to avoid the difficulties mentioned and to accomplish the advantages indicated.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a mop having improved means comprising a wiper element having intermediate to its n ends a stiffened section adapted to be folded, and a mop head for engaging such stiffened section to reliably hold the wiper element in place without requiring clamping pressure and without permitting slippage of the wiper element, the arrangement being such that the stiffened section is readily separable from the mop stick for easy mounting and dismounting without the necessity of threading the long wiper element with respect to the mop head.

Another object of the invention is to furnish a mop having improved means for detachably interengaging a plurality of jaw-like members in locked position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in view, the invention comprises the novel features, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described Since such wiper elements are generally in their preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims, and illustrated in the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

p In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation showing in locked position a mop embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation thereof, but with the locking means moved to open position.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the wiper element taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. '2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional "view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1.

The advantages of the invention as here outlined are best realized when all of its features and instrumentalities are combined, but useful embodiments may be produced involving less than the whole.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertain-s that the same may be incorporated in several different constructions. lhe accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merely as showing a preferred exemplification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, l0 denotes a mop embodying the invention. The same comprises a mop stick ll having a head I2 and a wiper element H. The latter may consist of cloth, but is preferably formed of strands such as thick, heavy rope I4, and intermediate of the ends thereof, there is provided a stiffening section I 5 adapted to be folded in an are over a supporting element of the mop head. The stiffening section l5 may be constructed in any suitable manner by impregnation or molding of a rubberlike or feasible material in or upon the rope section l4, but desirably a collar I6 is produced consisting of a sheet of cloth forming a casing enwrapping the ropes l4 and being snugly secured to the latter adjacent to the opposite ends of the collar by stitching H. This construction suffices to produce a desired degree of stiffness required by the invention and at the same time permits some pliability which is requisite in folding .themop according to the general manner of 3 use. A degree of stiffness may be further indicated by the arcuate fold illustrated in Fig. 2, and it is due to the tightly massed formation of the rope and the strain exercised by the heavy canvas material of the collar 16.

The mop head l2 comprises a plurality of jawlike members or holders l8, l9 movable toward and away from each other. By this the member 18 is afiixed and it includes a front plate 20 from which rearwardly project the spaced flanges 2| carrying reversely bent lips 22 to thus form a pair of parallel upright guideways at the side edges of the wall 20. In the flanges 2|, above the lips 22 are provided slot openings 23 which slope forwardly and upwardly. The wall 20 projects below the flanges 2| to form a closure portion or jaw-like element 24 for a purpose hereinafter described.

The movable jaw 19 is of generally loop-shape form having a top opening 25 intermediate of its ends at which there are provided the upward extending parallel arms 26, whereby the entire member l9 ma consist of a single piece of band metal of heavy gage. The bottom bar 21 of the member l9 may be straight, but preferably it is downwardly curved as shown, and the offset or shoulder sections 28 may lie in a straight line or may be downwardly inclined toward the arms 26. In principle this section 28 maybe regarded as a companion bar for the portion 27. Adjacent to their upper ends, the arms 26 are formed with angular open-ended slots 29 forming hooks 36, the latter projecting frontward. At the hooks, the openings 29 are so arranged as to slope upwardly and rearwardly at 3|. These openings 29 are adapted to register with the openings 23 and passing through these openings is a cam element 32 which is rotatable and cooperates with the adjoining parts for releasably locking the hooks 3D. The cam element 32 may consist of a piece of heavy wire having a centrally bowed region or cam portion 33 adapted to engage the front wall 20. At one end, the element 32. may be headed over or bent at 34, and at its other ends it may be bent to form a handle for turning the element and for cooperating with the portion 34 to prevent axial movement of the element. When the element 32 is moved so that its cam portion 33 rides along and engages the front wall 26, the cam element is forced bodil rearward to move along the openings 23 and 31 to engage the thooks 39, and thus lock the member I9 in a predetermined fixed position in which the lower bar 2'! thereof is spaced below the lower edge of the closure portion 24. When the cam element 32 is given a 90 turn so that the handle 35 projects rearwardly, the cam portion 33 disengages the wall 2!] and is adapted for bodily frontward movement along the slots, and thus disengages the hooks 36. Such disen gagement may be facilitated by the upward and frontward slope of the slots 23 and the openings 3| are preferably relativel horizontal so as to ofier little or no restraint in this regard. In other words, when the cam element is moved to releasing position, it may automatically slip out of engagement with the hooks 36 requiring no additional manipulation to assure complete disengagement of the member IS. The latter is thus mounted for complete detachment.

In Fig. 7 is shown a novel feature of the invention according to which the mop element l3 and the detachable holder l9 form a self sustaining unit adapted to be wholly immersed in a pail of water and swished around or otherwise manipulatedto assure complete and thorough rinsing of the wiper element. This unit 36 is so maintained by reason of the novel cooperation of its parts. When the stiffened portion 1 5 is embraced in the loop member l9, it has sufiicient strength to avoid accidental removal of the wiper element from the member l9. The stiffening section tends to concave downwardly to increase the reliability of the engagement and it bulges hard against the opposite ends of the loop to resist longitudinal slipping of the wiper element. In the folded position of the latter that stifiness is further materially increased. The opening 25 is relatively so constricted or so substantially shorter than the length of the loop, and the latter is so narrow and so snugly engages the stiffening section l5, that accidental removal of the wiper element is avoided. Of course, this stillness may be increased if desired by suitable inserts in the casing [6. In manipulating the unit 36 for rinsing the mop, the arms 26 are so small as not to afiord any material obstruction. V j

The wiper element I3 may be readily replaced when worn out, without discarding the member [9. T6 remove the element, the same is flattened out at its stiffening section l5, and is centrally longitudinally flexed or folded to readily'pass out through the opening 25; in a similar manner a new mop may be inserted. This longitudinal flex ure is facilitated by reason of the fact that the wiper element consists of longitudinal pieces or ropes. In course of inserting a new mop, the same is forced in under the oifset sections 28 which aiford a sufilcient binding upon the element I 3, and as when the mop becomes thoroughly wetted is swells thereby increasing the holding action.

The assembling of the mop I0 is completed by upwardly inserting the arms 26 into the guides 22 until the openings 23 and 29 are brought into register with each other after which the cam element 32 is turned to lock the member IS in position. In this predetermined position the portion 24 acts as a closure for the opening 25 and. it may bear downward snugly upon the adjacent portion of the wiper element or it may merely lightly contact the same. The mop is now ready for use in the usual manner.

The invention thus discloses among its various features the provision of a mop element having intermediate of its ends a stifiened foldable sec-.

tion in combination with a mop head having a loop-like member and adapted to snugly embrace the stiiTening portion to prevent accidental release of the latter, the loop member being openable for flexing the stifiening portion transversely to the loop to thus remove the wiper element.

The invention also discloses the provision of a Wiper element cooperating with a holder or jaw member forming a detachable unit therewith adapted for immersion in a pail, the wiper element being nevertheless detachable from its member for replacement. Accordingly the resistance or inertia of the operator against a proper rinsing and cleaning of the mop Ill is overcome by a novel manipulation so simple that it requires virtually no effort, and so convenient that I it lends itself inherently to the rinsing operation.

I claim: 1. A mop head mounted on one end of a mop stick including a plurality of jaw-like members one of which is detachable and the other fixed to said one end of the mop stick, the detachable jaw having an upwardly projecting element, the fixed jaw having a companion element, said elements having slidable guiding cooperation with each other for detachably mounting the detachable jaw, one of the elements having a hook portion, the other element having a transversely elongated opening, a cam member rotatable in said opening and so cooperating with the jaws as to engage and disengage the hook portion by relative lateral movement of the cam member.

2. A mop head according to claim 1, wherein the cam member includes a laterally extending cam portion adapted to laterally bear on the fixed jaw to cause movement of the cam member bodily away from the fixed jaw and into engagement with the hook portion.

3. A device including a wiper element having a central, fiat reenforcement section of sufficient length to be folded about transverse axes in course of folding the element, a member having an inverted T-shaped opening open at the upper end of the member, the latter consisting of rigid material and forming rigid parallel arms at the sides of the vertical portion of the opening, the latter cooperating with the reenforcement section to receive the same edgewise in fiat condition with such distortion of the reenforcement section as may be necessary, the horizontal portion ofthe opening receiving the reenforcement section in flat, crowded condition and said section being transversely folded therein to stiffen the section and increase the crowding for a tight frictional engagement so that the mop element and member are adapted to be handled as a unit in washing the element, and means cooperating with the member to form a mop head therewith.

4. A mop head including a plurality of jawlike members one of which is detachable and the other fixed to one end of a mop stick, the detachable jaw having parallel arms at the ends thereof, the fixed jaw having guide portions for said arms, the latter having hook portions, the fixed jaw having transversely elongated openings at the guide portions, an element journaled in said openings and being bodily transversely movable therealong to engage and disengage the hook portions of the arms, said element having a cam portion and the fixed jaw having a section engageable and disengageable by the cam portion upon turning the element in different directions, the cam portion serving to cause a transverse movement of the element upon engagement with the said section whereby the detachable jaw can be released when the cam portion is moved to,

disengage said section.

5. A mop head according to claim 4, wherein the hook portions have faces engaging the element at such an angle as to have camming engagement with the element to tend to urge the latter for a transverse releasing movement, the

tension between the jaws causing the faces to so urge the element.

'6. A mop device of the character described comprising a mop element having a main body of pliant cords, and an elongated cloth collar embracing and stitched to the cords to form therewith a flat central holding section foldable about transverse axes, the latter being substantially stifi about longitudinal axes when folded transversely and flexible about longitudinal axes when in an unfolded condition, an inverted T-shaped rigid member having horizontal and vertical openings in the corresponding portions thereof, the vertical opening being open-ended so that its surrounding portion of the member forms a pair of rigid, parallel arms, the openings communicating with each other to permit the holding section to be passed in longitudinally flexed condition into the open end of said vertical opening and through the latter into the horizontal opening, the latter being sized to snugly receive and frictionally engage the holding section in a longitudinally straightened and transversely folded condition to form a compact unit adapted to be immersed and washed as such unit in a pail of water, said snug frictional engagement between the rigid member and the holding section providing the sole interengaging means therebetween, and means complemental to said arms to form a mop head therewith, said means having releasable locking means for engaging said arms so constructed and arranged that upon release of the locking means said unit may fall into a pail of water without direct manual handling of the unit.

7. The mop device defined in claim 6 in which the mop head comprises a projecting closure portion on the complemental means movable along the arms and closing the communication between the horizontal and vertical openings when the arms are in engagement with said complemental means.

JOHN W. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 17,527 Thompson June 9, 1857 949,679 Keeney Feb. 15, 1910 1,542,108 Taylor June 16, 1925 1,576,203 Maeda Mar. 9, 1926 1,720,344 Palmer July 9, 1929 2,014,602 Nilson Sept. 17, 1935 

